Unconditional
by un-named-2019
Summary: This is a human AU. This is what I think could have happened to Jack to make him how he is. There may be romance in other chapters but this is the first multi-part story that I've written on here, so it may not work out. This story alludes to and may describe domestic violence. If that makes you in any way uncomfortable, don't read it. I don't own Rise of the Guardians.
1. Chapter 1

A mother's love should be unconditional. A father should be there to protect you, never hit you. We all can't get what we want, though. My mother didn't want me, so she left me with my father and his wife. Neither of them wanted me, but they took me in anyway. They made sure that I knew that though others called me an Overland, I would never be part of the family; I'm a Frost and I was not welcome.

They died my hair because it was unnatural. They gave me contacts because no one in the family had blue eyes. I soon looked just like them.

I was to call Father's wife Mrs. Overland when we were at home and Mother in front of company. It was the same with Father. I am not their family.

As the years passed, I excelled in all my school subjects and I was also the captain of our hockey team. They still weren't proud of me. _Be faster Jack. You hit like a girl, Jack. You call that a good grade? You're losing your touch, Jack._ There was always something to fix.

When my sister was born, I had just turned thirteen. She was perfect. She had the natural brown hair and the family's brown eyes. I was determined to make sure she was loved, and she was. She walked and talked sooner than I had and built her vocabulary fast for a toddler.

She was five and I was eighteen when I woke up on the iced-over lake behind our house. I was of age and I should be able to take care of myself. For the rest of the year, I walked to school and pretended that nothing was wrong. I graduated in the top five; my sister and the Overlands weren't there. I walked back to the lake that was no longer frozen and found a note. They told me to leave town and never come back. They said that I should have known I was not welcome.

I left the lake with only the clothes on my back and the walking stick I stole from Father.


	2. Chapter 2

I walked and walked with no destination in mind other than away. As I walked I saw the decorations through the shop windows. It's Easter. Is Emma having fun? Do the Overlands let her go on Easter egg hunts or do they keep her inside? I hope she's okay.

I found myself stopping at an older shop called the Four Friends. It has a section for Easter, a section for Christmas, a section for the Tooth Fairy, and a section for the Sandman. As the sun sets everyone starts to go toward home and the shop closes. I sleep on the bench beside the shop that night. I woke with the sun and kept moving.

…

I watch others and find myself learning by example. I take my first wallet that day and buy a box of granola bars. I eat three bars a day and find myself out of food before the week is up so I steel another wallet to buy another box. Each night, I hid the box and sleep next to the shop.

It was all fine until it rained.

I woke up to the sound of thunder and a soggy sweater. I got off the bench and scrambled to the back entrance of the store where I knew there was a space under the porch. Using my stick, I made sure it was clean of any webs or creatures and spent the night under the stairs. The next day I checked my appearance in the puddles. The hair die had almost completely faded and I was too scruffy looking.

I stole another wallet or two and went into the holiday store. The guy running the Easter side glared at me as I made my way towards Christmas. An older looking man humored me by asking what I wanted.

"Are there any sweaters in blue?"

He laughed at me and showed me a dark blue hoody. It had snowflakes on the cuffs and a large snowflake on the back. I asked him how much it was and it turned out that I had just enough money for it. I left with a new outfit feeling more clean.

…

It became routine for me. I slept under their porch and when my clothes got too dirty I bought new ones in the Christmas section. The older man calls himself North, so I do as well. North always greets me whenever he sees me and I smile back, but the Easter guy doesn't seem to like me. I haven't talked to the others but they seem nice.

On Christmas I write my wishes on a napkin and leave it in North's section.

 _…_

 _Dear Santa,_

 _I don't know if you're real or not, but I want you to watch over my sister since I can't. It's been three years since Father and his wife kicked me out. It's been three Easters and two Christmases since I last saw my sister. She should be eight now. I'm most definitely on the naughty list for all I've done, but I want you to take care of her. She's always been good._

 _Jack Frost_

…

Every year, the wish is the same. I'm twenty-one now and North always tries to check-up on me when I get new clothes. I don't think he knows that I live on the streets but Aster does. Aster runs the Easter section and he found me when I accidentally slept in. He pulled me out from under the stairs by my hood and started lecturing me on how my presence was bad for business. What if a customer had seen me? Since then, I've been more careful.

I've been getting new clothes at a different shop recently. I can't afford to be close to North or Sandy, who works in the Sandman section, or they might find out how I can afford the clothes from their shop. Aster seems happier since I've stopped visiting, but North and Sandy seem worried, so I stop by anyway.

The door's bell jingles, announcing my entrance; all heads turn towards me. Aster glares but North and Sandy smile. I head over to the Christmas section. North asks what I want and I pick a few shirts and go to give him the money when he tells me that I should try them on.

It was a bad idea.

I never think much of how skinny I am, but even Aster seems worried. I'm simply stealing the bare minimum. If I take too much, it would be noticeable so of course I'm not buff or anything. Now they want me to take the shirt off entirely just to see how bad it is. I tell them that I won't and start towards the dressing rooms.

I shouldn't have turned my back on them.

 **A/N: The next part will be in Aster's POV. I'm not going to do the accent because I know I'll butcher it.**


	3. Chapter 3

I have never seen such scars before. The kid probably ran to get away from whomever treated him so roughly, but why did he stay here when I was anything but nice to him? I could kick myself for some of the things I said to him. _"What kind of loser gets all his clothes from a store for kids?" "You're not wanted here." "Why can't you leave? It would make everyone's day."_ What kind of person am I that I would say such things to a child?

Jack had frozen where North and I pinned him. Tooth was crying and Sandy looked about ready to beat up the culprits. North seemed amazed at the kid's strength and here I was ashamed of myself. Jack seemed to have braced himself and it didn't take a genius to know why. He seemed to think we would hurt him and add to the gallery on his small back.

"Who did this to you?"

The elephant in the room had been addressed, but not removed. We needed to know and the kid needed to feel safe. The problem is achieving both. Once we receive an answer we can act accordingly. Our proximity to him probably isn't helping and I signal the others to back off.

When we get far enough away he pulls his shirt back on and scrambles backwards.

"Jack," I start "we want to know how we can help. Is there a reason you consistently come back to our store? We aren't the cheapest and I was pretty hostile."

His answer is barely more than a whisper, but I know it will ring in my ears forever.

"What makes you think I can trust you of all people?"

He takes our shock as a chance to grab his hoodie and he runs out of the store. I hadn't thought he would reject the offer. It just goes to show how little I know him.

…

We don't see him again until Easter. When I saw him in my section looking at a pink stuffed bunny, I wanted to talk to him or at least comfort him. He looked as if he wanted to be alone, but he wasn't hiding. He seemed so sad, but I held my tongue.

"Fourth Easter without Emma," he said.

He didn't say anything after that. He just sat watching the toy until closing time then left again.


	4. Chapter 4

Days dragged into weeks and weeks, months. Time has never seemed so slow. I watch the kid come in and out of our shop unnoticed, ghost-like. No one seemed to see him enter, only feel the wind that swept in the door. He always goes to that one stuffed rabbit and mumbles to himself. I hear him speak about someone named Emma and the name Overland pops up occasionally as well. He talks of happy times and bad times; his face displays it all.

Time doesn't appear to touch Jack. He's always the same height. He's always worryingly skinny. He always wears blue.

Jack wears blue like mourners wear black. There's a sadness in his eyes that never seems to fade. He walks as though the world rests on his small shoulders.

He still sleeps under our porch. He'll stand on the streets and watch the world pass him by for hours on end before moving on. No one notices this odd habit; no one notices him. He usually seems fine with it and then he spotted a small family. They all had brown hair and brown eyes and the parents walked with a snobbish air. The young girl seemed pretty nice, though. When the parents saw Jack, they tried to avoid his eyes.

"Emma!" Jack called out to the girl.

She seemed confused when he said her name.

"Who are you?"

Jack crumbled. I've never seen such an expression in my life. He mumbled something about having known her when she was little before walking back towards the shop. The parents kept sending him glares as they told their daughter not to talk to strangers.

…

After the shop closed for the night I sought out Jack. He wasn't under the porch and he wasn't in the streets or alleys, so I headed for the next town. I came upon a lake near the town's entry. It was near an old cabin that probably hadn't seen use in years. That's where I found Jack.

He was screaming at the moonless sky.

 **A/N: Next chapter will be in Jack's point of view.**


	5. Chapter 5

I only wear blue. Emma loved it when I wore the sad color; it made her happy, so I was never sad when I wore it. Old habits die hard, I guess. I still write letters to Santa and I still believe in miracles, but sometimes it's just so hard to keep going. It's hard to watch children come in the shop and get what they want, or when they leave crying because they didn't. I was never that child, could never be that child. She could have been that child. Was she that child?

When I walk down the streets I imagine her walking with me. I listen to her ramble about her day and get excited about upcoming holidays. I watch her grown into the beautiful woman I know she could be. I see myself at her wedding and with nieces and nephews. I see it all and know it's not real. It will never be real. It could never be real.

Until all the imaginings become possibilities again. She's right there. She's so close.

Does she see me?

Do _they_ see me?

Do I want them to?

I step closer. She should see me. Why doesn't she see me?

Am I hallucinating?

Have I gone that far?

There's only one way to tell. Oh, please don't make me do it! _They'll_ see me if I do.

Emma, please.

Emma, please see me.

Emma, please know me.

Emma, please remember me.

"Emma!"

"Who are you?"

 **A/N: Next chapter will most likely be from Aster's POV.**


End file.
